05/20/2026
Please read this letter from Pastor Bennie Leonard, a dear friend in ministry and the incredible story of what God is doing in Midlothian Texas.
Dear Terry Kizer,
I want to thank you for your leadership with Apex and for the encouragement you have been to me as a dear friend in ministry. I am also honored that you asked me to share our church growth story.
In April 2000, I moved to Midlothian, Texas, to plant Liberty Baptist Church. For the first five years, we met in a small daycare facility. In 2002, we purchased eight acres of land in Midlothian, and in January 2005, we held our first service in a newly built 10,000-square-foot building.
I faithfully served as Senior Pastor for 23 years, but by 2023, at the age of 64, I was beginning to feel weary in the journey. I had already been sharing with our board that we needed to begin praying about a succession plan for the future.
On the first Sunday of January 2023, Tim Hale, a church planter, visited our church. Tim had previously served in Midlothian for 13 years as Worship Leader at First Baptist Church, and we had enjoyed fellowship together through local ministerial alliance meetings. Five years earlier, Tim had moved to North Carolina to serve as an Executive Pastor, so I was surprised to see him back in town. When I asked why he had returned, he told me the Lord had led him back to Midlothian to plant a church. I immediately responded, “That’s awesome!”
The following week, I felt led to invite Tim and his wife, Cindy, to lunch. During our conversation, I shared the story of my 23-year journey in Midlothian and honestly expressed the weariness I was beginning to feel as Senior Pastor. I also explained that, at some point in the future, our church would need a succession plan.
I talked about how dramatically land values had increased in Midlothian. We purchased our eight acres in 2002 for approximately $90,000, but 21 years later the property was valued at nearly $3 million. I explained that one of the greatest challenges facing new church plants in Midlothian was simply acquiring land.
Then I shared the real reason I had invited them to lunch.
I asked Tim and Cindy if they would pray about the possibility of bringing our two groups together to become one church. I explained that such a partnership could provide a succession plan for our church while also giving their new church a fully paid-for ministry hub, since we had become debt-free in 2021.
As we talked, tears began to flow. Tim and Cindy shared that their board and small launch team had specifically been praying that God would “give them eight acres.” Tim assured me that if God was truly in this, he would want me to remain on staff full-time, and I shared that I would want him to become Senior Pastor.
That lunch meeting birthed a new vision we called “Better Together.” The central question became: “Could two churches be better as one church?”
In the months that followed, we spent much time praying, communicating, and carefully evaluating the practical and spiritual aspects of a successful merger. We began leasing our building to Renovation Church for Saturday night services while intentionally working through substantive issues together.
We discovered that our constitutions and bylaws were nearly identical, our worship styles and core doctrines aligned, and our vision and purpose complemented one another beautifully. We also studied the book Better Together by Jim Tomberlin and Warren Bird, which proved extremely helpful in addressing the key processes and issues involved in merging two churches successfully.
After Pastor Tim and I spent considerable time preparing and discussing important matters, we separately presented the vision to each of our church boards. Eventually, both boards met together to discuss the possibility of becoming one church.
By March 2023, we began sharing the vision separately with both congregations. Over the next six months, we consistently communicated the vision and the compelling reasons we believed this was God’s will.
I was especially intentional in leading our congregation through issues involving “letting go of control” and managing expectations. I continually emphasized that our hearts needed to be in the right place. I intentionally addressed difficult but important questions that many people were thinking, such as:
“Why would we, after 23 years, give away property that we sacrificed to build and pay for to a group that has nothing invested in it?”
That was a fair and reasonable question.
I gave two responses:
1. “Everything here belongs to the Lord—it’s not ours.”
2. I encouraged our people to become kingdom-minded.
I explained that we were not “giving something away,” but rather making an investment in the Kingdom of God. We were investing all the blood, sweat, tears, and resources that God had entrusted to us and trusting Him to do even more in the future than He had already done through us.
Anyone who has planted a church understands how deeply they care about what happens to that church after they are no longer leading it. I shared with our congregation that although this vision would require significant change, I truly believed it represented the best future for the church. The fact that I remained on staff helped ease the grieving process and contributed to a healthy transition.
In late July 2023, both churches voted to become one congregation. The support was overwhelming, with more than 95% unity in both churches. Proper legal documents were completed, and by January 2024, we officially became one church.
When we first began meeting together, our combined attendance averaged around 300 people. By early 2026, attendance had grown to between 900 and 1,000 people each Sunday. On April 12, 2026, we dedicated a new worship center with more than 1,200 people in attendance.
Since the merger, we have seen over 400 salvations and more than 300 baptisms.
This has been the greatest move of God I have ever experienced in my life and ministry.
To God be all the glory.
